Taking your Pinterest, Etsy, and Instructable ideas and giving you the low down on the cost, the time, and the skills it takes to make these at home!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

DIY Turquoise Nails

I love tearing Pinterest ideas apart and bringing them back to reality. Like the gingerbread TARDIS, or the marshmallow Kahlua shots, or even the spider cookies, they were all massive failures.However, when I see others tear down Pinterest ideas, I see that as a challenge. Is it really as hard as they say? Will I fail as well? When I saw this post from MeAndMySoldierMan, she rips apart these turquoise nails, claiming they're "ridiculous" and you can just buy crackle top coat instead. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say...

...they're not ridiculous.

If you have a half hour to spare, they're really not that hard to do yourself. All you need is:

1. White, black, blue, and clear nail polish

2. Q-tips

3. Rubbing alcohol

4. A spray bottle

5. A small container with water

6. Nail polish remover

Start by painting your nails white. Now you'll have to forgive me, I'm not the best at painting nails so bare with me and my sloppy work!

Once the white has dried, apply the blue/turquoise nail polish. Really, it can be any color you want, but I wanted mine to be as close to the original post as possible.

Once the blue has dried, it's time to prepare the black. In your small container of water, add 1 drop of black nail polish.

Spray the drop of nail polish with rubbing alcohol.

Immediately stick your finger in until the nail is completely covered (it's a quick in and out).

Remove your nail and using your Q-tip and nail polish remover, remove the excess from around the nail. If you leave your finger in for too long, your nail will mostly turn out black (see below).

And if you wait too long before sticking your finger in the water, the rubbing alcohol and nail polish will act like algae and stick to your finger. It's kinda gross. So spray, dip in and out, and wipe off excess without any delays!

Once all the fingers are covered, paint a final clear top coat to seal the deal!

And there you have it folks - your very own turquoise nails! Sure, you could spend money on nail art to have them look like this but you'd only be able to wear it once and then you'd have to buy 'em again. This way, you can make 'em however many times you like!

TOTAL COSTS: Less than $10

$.99 for rubbing alcohol from Vons

$.99 for clear polish and white polish from Rite Aid (2 for 1)
$1.99 for black polish
$2.99 for blue polish
$1.99 for nail polish remover
Q-tips already on hand (though I suppose you could use paper towels)

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 30 minutes (almost to the second!)

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
They're really not hard to do at all, and this is coming from someone who can't paint inside the lines very well! I like how every nail can have a different design and is completely unique to anything anyone else might have!